You talking to me? Top-class chess returns to England

7/21/2007 – The first international tournament ever was held in London in 1851, but nowadays Britain organises few international chess events. That will all change in August, as London plays host to its strongest international event for 20 years, the Staunton Memorial. Two weeks later, the city of Liverpool will hold a summit match between Great Britain and China. ChessBase will have full coverage.

Top-class chess returns to England

Despite having initiated the tradition of international chess tournaments in
1851, England hosts deplorably few such events nowadays. However, the normal
gloomy picture will be changed for the better in August and September, as two
top-class events take place in quick succession.

Fifth Annual Staunton Memorial

The revival starts with the fifth Staunton Memorial tournament, taking
place in London from 7-18 August. The brainchild of GM Ray Keene, this twelve-player
all-play-all event will be the strongest international tournament held in the
British Isles for at least 20 years.

"You talking to me?" The formidable Howard Staunton

Organised by The Staunton Society, a body dedicated to preserving the name
of one of England's greatest players, and with sponsorship from Dutch chess
maecenas Jan Mol (formerly of Lost Boys tournament fame), the tournament line-up
comprises six Dutchmen ( van Wely, Sokolov, Timman, L'Ami, Smeets and Werle),
and six British players (Adams, Speelman, Wells, McNab, Jones and Jovanka Houska).

The chess pieces that bear the name of Staunton

The tournament will take place in Central London, in the prestigious surroundings
of Simpsons-in-the-Strand. This is on the site of the famous Simpson's Divan,
where many of the world's leading players used to congregate in the middle of
the 19th century, and where Adolf Anderssen played his Immortal Game against
Kieseritzky.

The way we were...

... and Simpsons-in-the-Strand today

At Simpsons, play takes place in an elegant Victorian drawing room, thickly-carpeted,
beautifully furnished, with chandeliers on the ceiling and oil paintings adorning
the walls - and not a basketball hoop in sight!

Click the picture for an animated 360o view

The tournament offers a unique combination of top-class 21st century chess,
with the elegance and atmosphere of Victorian England. No sign here of players
seated in a draughty sports hall, with trainers squeaking on the all-weather
surface beneath their feet.

Participant:

Michael Adams

ENG

2724

Loek van Wely

NED

2680

Ivan Sokolov

NED

2666

Jan Timman

NED

2560

Erwin L'Ami

NED

2598

Jan Werle

NED

2552

Jan Smeets

NED

2538

Gawain Jones

ENG

2526

Peter Wells

ENG

2517

Jon Speelman

ENG

2511

Colin McNab

SCO

2416

Jovanka Houska

ENG

2401

The Fifth Annual Staunton Memorial will be the strongest event to be held in
London if not the UK since 1986.

Venue and dates:

The venue is Simpsons-in-the-Strand, with the opening round on August 7, one
rest day, and the final round and prize giving on August 18. Play begins in
the afternoons starting 14-00 hours.

UK v China in Liverpool

The second piece of good news comes from the north of England, specifically
Liverpool. As part of the lead-up to its status of 2008 European City of Culture,
the city plays host to a UK-China summit chess match, from 4-9 September. Teams
of six male and two female players will compete in a Scheveningen-style match.
The English team includes both Michael Adams and Nigel Short, the first time
for almost 15 years that the two have competed together in an event on British
soil.

The Chinese team includes top stars Wang Yue, Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua,
plus 13-year old schoolgirl sensation Hou Yifan. Alongside the match,
there will also be a nine-round International Open, with a prize fund in the
region of £10,000–£12,000 (details to follow).

Age

Rating

Age

Rating

GM Michael Adams

34

2724

GM Bu Xiangzhi

22

2685

GM Nigel Short

42

2683

GM Wang Yue

20

2696

GM Jonathan Rowson

30

2599

GM Ni Hua

24

2681

GM Luke McShane

23

2592

GM Zhang Pengxiang

27

2649

GM Nick Pert

26

2536

GM Wang Hao

18

2619

GM Gawain Jones

18

2526

WGM Hou Yifan

13

2523

GM David Howell

16

2519

WGM Zhao Xue

22

2500

WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant

39

2419

WGM Shen Yang

18

2439

IM Jovanka Houska

27

2401

Average age: 28, average rating:
2555

Average age: 21, average rating:
2600

Match Schedule

The event takes place from September 4th (first round) and ends on September
9th (6th round). Rounds 1-5 start at 3 p.m., round six at 9 a.m. The format
of the match is a Scheveningen for the first six boards (each player meets all
six opponents once); and similar for the women's boards (each to play both opponents
three times). The rate of play is all moves in 2 hrs plus 30 seconds per move.

Regular ChessBase correspondent FM Steve Giddins will be in attendance at both
events, and will provide full coverage on ChessBase. So, starting from August
7, get out the port and cigars, settle down in your favourite armchair, and
watch chess played in the sort of surroundings where it belongs!

See also

7/1/2007 – The July 2007 FIDE rating list shows India's Vishy Anand still in place one, followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. Vassily Ivanchuk has advanced to fourth place. The list is punctual, as usual, but it also contains some obvious errors (e.g. two players named Michael Adams in the top 30). These are sure to be corrected in the next few days. Until then here are the top 30 players.Discuss

6/17/2007 – Two are under way, the first in Valjevo, Serbia, with Anatoly Karpov trying a comeback at 56; the second is the Dutch Championship in Hilversum, Holland. Today the Category 18 AeroSvit 2007 tournament begins in Foros, Ukraine. And of course Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2007 and the 20th Ciudad de León chess tournament are fast approaching. Full information and links.Discuss

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